San Jose welcomes Colorado to Buck Shaw

Santa Clara, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Jose Earthquakes go in search of
a crucial three points on Wednesday as the club hosts the Colorado Rapids at
Buck Shaw Stadium.

San Jose enters the match in sixth place in the Western Conference on 44 points, four behind Colorado for the fifth and final playoff spot with three games remaining.

The Earthquakes are coming off a much-needed three-point effort against the
struggling Chivas USA back on Sept. 29. Both teams struggled to generate many
scoring chances, but San Jose finally got the goal it needed three minutes
before the final whistle.

The scoring play started routinely as Marvin Chavez launched a long-range
strike on goal that was stopped by Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, but he was
unable to corrall the rebound and Chris Wondolowski was there to pop home the
rebound the give the visitors the lead.

The Goats were unable to find an eqalizer and the 'Quakes held on to extend
their unbeaten run in league play to five consecutive matches.

"Our guys were fantastic, and kept fighting and persevering right through the
end," Quakes interim coach Mark Watson remarked. "And we got the goal that we
were so desperate for."

"With these games, especially ones that you need to win, you don't know if
those chances are going to come in the first minute or the 90th minute,"
Wondolowski added. "So you just have to stay the course and just keep plugging
away. I think that's something we're pretty good at."

Colorado, meanwhile, is right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff
race and is coming off its most impressive win of the season -- a 5-1 drubbing
of Seattle Sounders FC at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Colorado had the better of play all night long against Seattle and needed only
13 seconds to find the back of the net through Rookie of the Year candidate
Deshorn Brown.

Dillon Powers scored in the 10th minute and Brown completed a brace in the
31st minute before Drew Moor capped a fantatic first half with a tally in the
42nd minute.

Eddie Johnson got one back for the Sounders in the 63rd, but Designated Player
Gabriel Torres scored his first MLS goal in stoppage time to finish off the
rout for the Rapids.

"I'm glad for the players. It's one of those nights they've deserved," Rapids
head coach Oscar Pareja said. "It's been a year so far, and there have been
many games where they wanted so badly to perform the way they did tonight in
front of the fans. That was very rewarding. I think that's the statement. It's
a message to our fans, that have been very supportive, and giving that joy
today, that's why the players are happy.

It was great for him [to get the early goal], and Deshorn needed it as well,"
Pareja said of Brown's performance. "Now he's called to the [Jamaican] National
Team. I know his mom was here tonight, and he wanted, tonight, to come and give
us this this joy. I spoke to him during the week, and he knew how badly we
needed this result. He did excellent at training during the week. Everything
came together for Deshorn today, and we're very glad for him."